Chuck Most

The 'paint' is more or less done, and I decided to try a subtle 'stickerbomb' motif for the rear windows.

Avoid the most recent reissues ("Double Whammy" and later)- they have the old Halibrand wheels instead. Still cool wheels, but not this type.

Can a non-Dodge really be a Dajiban? Don't know! Or care! If you're out of the loop, this should explain things for you- http://jalopnik.com/5481898/crazy-japanese-build-serial-killer-vans-for-the-race-track-dajiban Anyway...where were we? This is the AMT Vantom or Phantom or whatever it's called for this reissue. The first thing I had to do was dig up an appropriate set of wheels and tires for this thing. I noticed that many of the 1:1 Dajibans have RWL BFG T/A tires with Minilite-style wheels. After a bit of digging I located a set of each. The van was also lowered, and I chose to incorporate a bit of negative camber, which is easy with a Ford Twin I Beam front suspension when you lower it with shorter (or cut) coil springs! I'm going for an overall 'tattered' look, so I used the worst paint I had in the stash- a very old can of Rustoleum Heirloom White with a bad nozzle. Some light weathering will follow. I'm throwing in a few random elements from other genres, too- the passenger's side headlight is covered with a smiley face- I've seen many Bosozoku-styled cars with that lamp covered or removed, so I decided to do it to this. It will also have an oil cooler on or under the front bumper.

Bandai did a 1:12 scale Excalibur SSK, just so you know. Love the way this one is coming together!

Nice! Of course I'm biased since I own a 1:1 '67 Fury more-door. Technically, yes, but you see them mounted that way pretty frequently.

Here's one that's a bit less sad- http://damnjdm.webs.com/apps/blog/show/6173019-abandoned-r30-skyline

Check the Studebaker thread in the Community Builds section.

It has finally stopped raining, at least. Still got a little iffy- these trucks are parked about 150 feet away from the river bank, and the water level was actually a bit higher a day or two before I took this photo...

Tonight's agenda- '53 Studebaker Roadster...

They're a REAL hoot on wet grass, too. Years ago a friend of mine asked what 'doing a donut' meant, and I was more than happy to demonstrate on the rain soaked grass. If the yard had been a bit larger I'd have shown her an example of a powerslide as well. That was a GT hatch, but still.

That's how I've always done it- that way if something goes bad (kit turns out not to be the one the other party wanted, or it gets damaged/lost in the mail, etc.), I can at least return the kit to them, in exactly the same condition it was when it arrived.

Here we go... First order of business was to cut away the top. Since this will be a two-seat roadster, there was a good foot and a half of space between the rear edge of the door and front of the rear wheel opening that I wouldn't need- so an approximate 18 scale inches was whacked out of that area. I used part of the AMT '53 Stude's chopped top option on the chopped windshield, and used the rest of it as a deck filler- this will be trimmed and shape as needed once seats, etc.. are decided upon. Here's everything roughed in- note that this will be a curbside model, with no full engine detail- the hood was glued into place and sanding/putty will be used to take care of the large gaps along the fenders.

Again, Dave.... put me down for at least 12 D-series pickups and another dozen Travelalls. Well, maybe not all at once...

Nice! First Road Boss I've seen paired up with the Peerless log trailer.

Gee, thanks. Just what I needed... ANOTHER project idea.

Phase two has begun. I think. Maybe...

Just in case anyone was curious, the mag that contained the 2-hole Budd comparison is SAE #99 (October '95).

As of today, this horse may well be back in the race,,,,

Nope, it still looks pretty much like that, only with a fine layer of dust on it. Still up in the air on doing it as a tractor or a wrecker. Oh, and it's been a while- gotta pester Dave once more about that D-Series and Travelall... To repeat Robert's statement... my Paypal is ready when you are.

Frank- have you thought of doing the VW/Porsche Fuchs wheel in a large diameter, something like an 18" or even a 20"?

In my case, the warm temps brought nothing but borderline Monsoon rains. On the plus side, though, there was a killer thunderstorm yesterday!

I've seen that one, and I'd love to know who built it as well. One of these days I'm going to blatantly rip off the idea- and power it with a VW Pancake 8.

Keeping it in a temperature controlled area and out of direct sunlight are good ideas- and probably should be no-brainers anyway. I've had a few sheets I've left in my upstairs storage room which is subject to extreme temperature changes, and that will kill the adhesive in pretty short order. I keep mine in a shallow compartment in a desk drawer where it is not likely to become kinked or bent. With the obvious stuff out of the way, I've used properly stored sheets of BMF which were three years old or more without any problems.

I swear by Plowboy's discovery... LA Totally Awesome. Strips the chrome AND the clear undercoat in less than a day 90% of the time, some of the Round 2 kits take a little bit longer. I keep it as close to or above room temp as possible in a sealed imitation Tupperware-type container. In the summer I'll take it out on the porch and let it sit in the sun- that REALLY speeds up the reaction.

Thanks! Since the Revell body is downsized to the T-Bird/Cougar proportions I had no illusions about building this stock, only quasi-stock. Kind of thinking of stuffing the supercharged 5.4 from a '10 Shelby in there.... yeah, that idea keep sounding better and better the more I think of it.